Shadow Manipulation

Natasha Romanoff works entirely in the shadows. Well-versed in the world of a spy, she has the expertise to get in, wreck havoc, and get out without anyone knowing she was there.

We will be spending the entire game in Alter-Ego form. Therefore, any identity specific card that is "Hero Action", "Hero Interrupt", or "Hero Response" can be used as a resource. No need for Synth-Suit here. Instead, we will be utilizing an engine that works entirely with "Action" or "Response" cards.

You'll notice there are no Beat Cop's or Homeland Intervention's in this deck. Instead, we are going to utilize Disguise, Breaking and Entering and Covert Ops. They are "Action" events, meaning we can do it on our Alter-Ego side. Turn the Tide is also a "Response" card, meaning we can damage the Villain for 3 after we remove the last of the threat. This gives us a more "traditional" play style that feels almost as if we were playing on Hero form.

For our Allies, Grant Ward is a cheap Ally who can thwart for 2. While you must pay a if we pull a treachery card, we can block it with Spycraft to redraw that card, potentially pulling a non-treachery card. Quake is a perfect Ally to always keep in play. When minions engage you and scheme, Quake exhausts without taking damage to deal 2 damage to that minion. If that minion is taken out, we can trigger Interrogation Room to remove an additional threat.

While it's not a priority in the early game, getting Sky-Destroyer out is a guaranteed way to deal damage to the Villain. All of our Allies (except Bucky) have the S.H.I.E.L.D. trait, meaning whenever we play an Ally (or some Supports if we get it out early), we can deal 2 DMG to the Villain. Since it is "dealing" damage, we can ignore the Guard trait and retaliate.

Meditation is in here to help pay for some expensive Allies or Supports. They are definitely more helpful in the early game, but you have to weigh the use as using Disguise also requires you to exhaust your identity. Meditation can be swapped out for any other cards you see fit.

What I found most fun about this deck is turning the Minions into Informant's. When you get a Minion with a 2 SCH, throw Informant on them. They will remove 2 threat from you when they activate. Informant gets thrown into your discard pile, which you can then pull back out with Safe House #29 and pay for with your Black Widow's Gauntlet. You can leave them in play all game and continually have them remove threat for you. Additionally, this acts similar to Avengers Mansion as playing a Preparation card on Natasha's Alter-Ego lets you draw 1 card.

Manipulate the Villain while never having to worry about losing HP. Live in the shadows, and strike at opportune moments like a true Black Widow.